Remote control lever assemblies for bicycle adjustable height seat posts typically include a pivoting lever, a body on which the pivoting lever is hinged, a clamp for connecting the body of the assembly to a bicycle handlebar, and a fastener for tightening the clamp to the handlebar.
A flexible cable, operatively connected to the height adjustable seat post, is linked to the pivoting lever; as the lever is moved, the flexible cable is pulled through the body, and activates a valve or mechanism within the seat post.
Typical bicycles that use height adjustable seat posts have right and left brake levers and grips, and a gear shifter on the right and possibly also on the left.
The remote control lever assembly can potentially be mounted in four positions on the handlebar: top right, bottom right, top left, and bottom left.
Most remote control lever assemblies can only be mounted in two positions: top right and bottom left, or bottom right and top left.
However, some remote control lever assemblies can be mounted in all four positions: they typically require some disassembly and reassembly in order to achieve this.
Most riders have personal preferences for where the remote control lever assembly is mounted, based, for example, on their bicycle configuration or on possible physical limitations.
With particular reference to the gear shifters mounted on the bicycle handlebar, it is observed that there are mainly two types of shifters: twist shifters and trigger shifters.
Twist shifters are higher profile than trigger shifters: usually it is desirable, for remote control lever assemblies, to be as low profile as possible.
When a lever assembly is designed for trigger shifters, then normally it will not fit handlebars with twist shifters, unless the assembly is overly high profile.
On the other hand, when a lever assembly is designed for twist shifters, then it will be higher profile than necessary when fitted to handlebars with trigger shifters. Existing remote control lever assembly have very limited position adjustability.
Even if the lever can be placed in all four of the handlebar locations, fine adjustment is very limited. Many lever assemblies are difficult, or impossible, to mount in the desired position, because the fastener that tightens the assembly to the handlebar is not accessible: in particular, the brake lever or shifter mounts obstruct fastener access.
In other cases, the cable exit from the remote lever assembly interferes with the brake lever of shifter mounts, or with cable routing.
One kind of existing remote control lever assembly design is not traditionally hinged, but instead it comprises a joystick-like actuation lever, that can be pushed or pulled in any direction.
This design, however, is not as comfortable to use, because it requires pushing on a round rod rather than a larger pad that better spreads out the load.
In addition, while the lever can be pushed in any direction, it often has certain directions where it collides with the shifters, grips, or mounting hardware.
It should also be noted that many people do not like the “feel” of the motion of this kind of lever assembly. Also, this design has the same lack of adjustability as many of the hinged lever designs.
Another existing remote control lever assembly design is suitable for pushing ad hydraulic fluid rather than pulling a cable. However, the same adjustable position limitations occurs as cable pull levers.